Page 68 of Beautiful Deception

When Inessa doesn’t return, even after many hours have passed, I know something is wrong. She’s visited her father before and always comes back within two hours. Not this time.

I ask Mrs. Green if she knows anything.

“Why would I know anything, sir? I don’t know the comings and goings of that child.”

“She didn’t tell you anything? Like if she was staying with her dad tonight?”

“No. Not at all.”

“You don’t happen to know who her dad is? Or what motel he’s staying at?”

She shakes her head. “No, sir. Now, can I go back to bed?”

“Of course.”

She shuts her bedroom door in my face.

The problem with Inessa is that I pay her in cash, so I know she uses cash to pay for the motel room for her dad. That makes it impossible to track. I’ve never followed her or sent any of my men to follow her because I do believe in giving my staff some privacy.

Now, I regret not knowing what motel her dad stays at, or what his name is. I never bothered digging into Inessa’s past. It didn’t seem worth my time. She’s a good girl who does her job well. I’ve never needed to worry about her whereabouts.

But now I’m worried.

There is someone who’s good at tracking people and that’s Finn. But I don’t like the way he looked at Inessa in the past: part lust and part distrust.

I worry he’d hurt her if I sent him after her.

Maybe I’m just being paranoid. It’s only because I care about Inessa. I’ll give it until morning and if she’s not return, then I’ll go looking for her.

Inessa

The men bring me to an old abandoned warehouse.

“You don’t have to do this,” I say as one of them drags me from the van. “You can let me go. Whoever paid you to do this, I can pay more. I can give you seven thousand dollars.” It’s all my money but worth it for my life.

The one holding me snorts. “We were paid a hundred grand each to do this. Seven thousand dollars ain’t worth shit.”

“Who paid you? Who’s doing this?” My first thought is Natasha. She did say she would hurt me. But would she really do this?

My father owes people money. I know that for a fact. There’s a chance one of those people is behind this. But who would that be? I don’t know all the people my father has upset.

“We’re not telling you anything,” the one walking ahead of me says. “Now, be a good girl and shut the fuck up.”

They bring me inside the warehouse and down into a cold basement. A rusty dog cage sits in the middle of the room.

Instinctually, my body begins to fight back. “No!” I start kicking and clawing at the man holding me. My fingers rake down his cheek and he flinches back, his hold loosening just enough for me to make a run for it.

But I don’t make it far before he grabs me again and hauls me towards the cage. He throws me so hard into the cage that my head hits the ceiling of it, making stars shine in front of my eyes.

“Stay there,” he growls, slamming the door shut and locking it. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Are you going to let me starve down here? Are you going to kill me?”

“We do have orders to kill you. We also have orders to hurt you. But this will do for now.”

Both men go upstairs and shut the door behind them, submerging me into complete darkness. It’s super chilly down here. Shivers rack my body. I hold myself for warmth but it doesn’t do anything. This sort of cold, once it seeps into your body, is hard to get out.

I try to unlock the cage. It doesn’t crack open at all, no matter how hard I hit it or use my fingernails to pick the lock. I’m not getting out of here.

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